Bill passes first committee hurdle

The Republican-led proposal passed a first committee on Tuesday, with bipartisan support. Supporters say the effort is aimed at improving academic performance, student focus and communication skills. Eight other states have adopted similar policies, which have wide support according to national polling. Opposing parents have cited concerns about reaching their children during emergencies. A bill…

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Vladimir Putin and Donald Trump could meet in February, Kremlin says

MOSCOW, Feb 19 – Russian President Vladimir Putin and U.S. President Donald Trump could meet this month, although the first face-to-face encounter between a Russian and a U.S. leader since 2021 could take longer to prepare, the Kremlin said on Wednesday. Trump said on Tuesday he would probably meet Putin this month and dismissed Ukraine’s concern about being left out of U.S.-Russian talks in…

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China reacts after State Department site removes Taiwan independence

BEIJING/TAIPEI, Feb 17 – China on Monday urged the United States to “correct its mistakes” after the U.S. State Department removed previous wording on its website about not supporting Taiwan independence, which it said was part of a routine update. The fact sheet on Taiwan, updated last week, retains Washington’s opposition to unilateral change from either Taiwan or from China, which claims the democratically governed island as…

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See impacted agencies, including NPS, NIH, IRS

In a flurry of activity at the end of the week, the Trump administration fired more than 10,000 federal workers across multiple agencies as part of its “large-scale reductions” in the government workforce. This is likely just the beginning of the job cuts, as President Donald Trump and top White House aide Elon Musk seek to continue slashing…

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